The fourth T20I between India and West Indies turned out to be a bittersweet experience for Sanju Samson. The opener smashed 56 off 23 balls – his second fifty in three innings – but his knock was overshadowed by India’s 24-run defeat in Hyderabad. With the series tied at 2-2 and the decider scheduled for Saturday, India could do with another moment of brilliance from Samson.
For now, though, the focus remains on the game that got away. Samson admitted that while he was happy with his batting effort, a win for India would have been the icing on the cake.
“Whatever you do, it feels different being on the losing side. I actually am a little gutted at the moment. Me and my contribution wanted to be on the winning side. I enjoyed batting down there, but when you are chasing a score like that, there are no second thoughts. You have to back your instincts, you have to back the power game, and that’s what I did. I really enjoyed the knock, but I would have liked to be on the winning side,” Samson said during the post-match press conference.
On another belter of a surface, 470 runs were scored, but India failed to chase down the target of 248 set by the West Indies, finishing on 223. Their captain, Shai Hope, has led from the front on more than one occasion, slamming his fourth century of the tour. His unbeaten 102 came on the back of an identical score three evenings ago in Indore, to go with a 162 not out in the third ODI and a 104 before that.
Samson gives Hope his flowers
Samson acknowledged Hope’s brilliance, admitting that it was always going to be a stiff target for India to chase down. After Samson got out, India were in big trouble at 130/5 in the 12th over. However, a 70-run partnership off 32 balls between Nitish Reddy and Tilak Varma brought the team back into the game and raised hopes of a win. India needed 48 off 19 balls when Tilak departed, and that, as it turned out, was the moment the West Indies seized control and closed out the game, according to Samson.
“Hope played a very good innings. He steadied the innings for 20 overs. But once we started chasing a target like 250, we couldn’t anchor the innings, to be very honest. We had to go from ball one; that’s what everyone tried to do. When Tilak and Reddy were batting, we were still in the game. Needing 13 an over, I felt the game was still on until Tilak got out,” he said.
“We were cruising in the game, scoring those runs really nicely. Reddy and Tilak were soaking the pressure and batting really well. Until that moment, we were in the chase. That’s great to have. Even after losing five wickets, to have that control, with two young cricketers taking the pressure head-on, was commendable.”
More was expected of the Indian top order, featuring Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and, especially, captain Shreyas Iyer, who came into the contest in red-hot form after scoring a century in the previous game. But their collective failure – Abhishek scoring 29, Ishan 6 and Shreyas 16 – left India with a mountain to climb.
Samson, though, came to his teammates’ defence.
“Ishan and Abhishek Sharma are two of the world’s best top-order batters. You can’t ask anything more out of them. One game is alright. Abhishek scored a very good 70 (69) in the last game, and Ishan is consistently scoring a lot of runs. One game is totally fine.”
